Tiger Woods sneaks into world top 50, qualifies for WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

Tiger Woods sneaks into world top 50, qualifies for WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

Tiger Woods may not have won Sunday, but his performance at Carnoustie just got him a spot in a coveted field.

The 42-year-old raced from four back into the solo lead in the final round of the British Open but eventually finished in a tie for sixth at 5 under. Woods entered the week 71st in the Official World Golf Ranking and needed a finish around sixth to jump into the top 50 in the rankings.

Why was that important?

Woods had not yet qualified for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, an event he’s won eight times, and this was the second-to-last week where those in the world top 50 would automatically qualify. The final top 50 cutoff is after next week’s RBC Canadian Open, but Woods had already clarified he was not playing that event regardless of where he stood here.

So essentially he needed to be top 50 in the world after the Open to get into an event he desperately wished to reach.

He did just that by the thinnest of margins.

There was some confusion at the end, as some believed Woods’ closing 6-foot birdie miss to place T-6 rather than T-2 would see him only jump to 51st in the rankings after the Open.

But it got cleared up: The OWGR has officially announced that Woods has moved up to … No. 50.

BOOM. He qualified for the WGC just at the ranking he needed.

That’s fantastic.

We don’t know for sure yet that Woods will indeed play there, but the odds seem pretty high he’ll commit. The 42-year-old loves Firestone’s South Course, having won the event on the layout eight times.

He’s also been open about how much he wanted to qualify for the event, especially as this will be Firestone’s final time hosting with the tournament moving to Memphis in 2019. So, it would be odd if he skipped now – as blowing off Firestone would also mean not having a start between the Open and PGA Championship.

The 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational remains Woods’ last win to date.

This is Woods’ first time in the world top 50 since January 2015.

Welcome back, Tiger. And we’re betting there’s at least a little smile on a disappointing Sunday knowing he gets one final crack at Firestone.